This blog has nothing to do with gorillas (though I love 'em)...fellow bloggers have inspired me to share vintage images of Disneyland from my personal collection. But don't be surprised if you see something from a World's Fair, Knott's Berry Farm, or someplace else that is cool!

Wednesday, April 06, 2016

In today's Devlin family photos, we've moved from January, 1962 to three years later. Let's see, carry the one, divide by Pi, and multiply the remainder by seven... by golly, it's now January, 1965. Math. Maybe you should try it sometime.

Many of the photos in this batch feature (as the hand-written labels say) "Mama" and "Grandad". I can't help but think of my own wonderful grandparents and our trips to Disneyland when I see these photos. This first one is neat because M & G are posed next to the old-fashioned Bekins wagon, with its artwork featuring some spirited horses - horses that will go crazy and run down the street with your possessions! Now this is odd, because I believe that Global Van Lines had moved into the Bekins spot by 1963, and this is a full two years after that, so... what gives? Perhaps this was a case of a roll of film sitting undeveloped in a drawer for a few years.

Just up the street, the grandparents have discovered the colorful Flower Mart, which appears to be especially bustling. Who knows, maybe the park sold truckloads of artificial flowers. Something tells me that Grandad is being a good sport (as usual) while Mama checks out this side street. If he's like my grandpa, he wants to ride the Matterhorn!

7 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Looking at the building behind the cart, it is amazing to think that NONE of the "brick" buildings on Main Street were actually brick. Original construction of the park must have provided employment for 100's of the movie industry's prop and scenery folks.

It might've started out as Bekins Storage, but it'll always be the Global Van Lines Locker Storage place to me. And there's the Flower Market sign featured in one of my favorite colorful Disneyland postcards. Thanks as always to the Devin Family for sharing their memories. And thank you for posting it, Major.

I probably have to agree with you about Global Van Lines. However, I went to school with the Bekins' kids, so I always get a kick out of seeing any Disneyland images with the Bekins name - you know - the home town company that they were, right there on Main Street U. S. A.

Anonymous, you are right; I still remember the first time I became aware of the fact that the buildings were not actual brick (I think it was when I watched a rerun of one of those very early Disneyland TV shows where they showed construction on Main Street). Even now the effect is totally convincing.

K. Martinez, I don't have strong memories of Global when it was there; as a kid I don't ever remember my family renting a locker. By the time I was old enough to go by myself, the lockers were not sponsored (as far as I know).

How popular were artificial flowers? It always seems weird, or at least funny from our point of view, that there was an artificial Flower Market at the Park for so long.

And you can put me down for taking even longer, Major, to realize the whole fake brick thing. I finally twigged to that fact one day, maybe 2000 or so, when I was up in the little patio behind the Disney Gallery and was leaning up against the wall. I can be just a little slow...

Major, When we were kids we'd check our stuff collectively into a single shared locker so we could get on with our day. If we purchased something we'd go back later and drop it in there to pick up and the end of our day. Also the Global Van Lines building behind the Park left an impression on me which is why I'll probably always associate Global with Disneyland.

As for the fake brick, Disneyland is as fake as it gets. I heard that even the wrought iron is fake (fiberglass) so they don't have to deal with the rust. I wonder if the Cambodian ruins of the Jungle Cruise are hollow or just a textured façade made from fiberglass with no real back to them. What about the face/head encased in the banyan tree? How substantial is it really? While I know it's all fake, it always has that solid substantial look, but the illusion is broken when you see cracked boulders, or torn stone facades.

Patrick Devlin, even close up the fake brick can fool. At least in my case! I have no idea if the Flower Mart sold a lot of product, but as you pointed out, it was there for a long time.

K. Martinez, I guess I just let the grownups take care of all of that stuff; we did buy merchandise (I have photos of me wearing mouse ears, carrying a cork "pop gun", etc). And I doubt I paid any attention to the Global Van Lines building. Could you see it from the freeway? By that time we were probably trying to be the first to see the Matterhorn. I'm sure much of the Cambodian ruins are hollow, but they did such a great job. It never occurred to me that the wrought iron might be fake, but even fiberglass eventually will break down in years and years of sunlight.